I'll Show You Mine

My philosopy when it comes to Christmas cards is: The more, the merrier! If you feel the same way and want to exchange cards, either DM me on Twitter or send your address to me at Ber611 at aol dot com. (Please include your last name if there's a chance I don't know it!) If we exchanged cards in the past I should still have your address but if you want to be on the safe side, you might want to re-send it to me. Or I can just track you down for it later ;-)

I hope y'all had a wonderful Thanksgiving filled with family, friends, food and fun!

A Few Firsts

So, I know I promised to try not to go overboard with the baby talk but that doesn't mean I can't gush about it once in a while, right? :-)

JD and I decided to get up (very early) last Saturday to attend a baby fair at the hospital where I'll be delivering the baby (which just happens to be out of town). I kind of had to drag JD (and myself) out of bed to go but we're both really glad we went. We got some fun stuff from a few vendors, including an oil that I've had a lovely time rubbing on my belly. It's supposed to prevent stretch marks and although I have my doubts about it (or anything, really) being the magic cure, I feel better knowing that I'm at least doing what I can to try to prevent them. And heck, it just smells good and feels nice so that's enough for me!

We attended some of the classes that were offered and I even convinced JD to sit in on a breastfeeding class with me. He was one of about five guys in the room but I'm so glad he went. I want him to have an idea of what all it entails and some of the issues that I might be faced with. He was such a good sport about the whole thing!

While we were perusing the vendor booths, JD spotted a toy that he quickly decided we needed to get for the bug (we call the baby "the lovebug" and it often gets shortened to "the bug"). I was so surprised to see that it was a toy (actually a teether) that I had already planned to get! It's been around since the 60's and I first saw it on another blog about a year ago. I was pretty impressed that he picked out such a winner without any help from me ;-)

I wanted to go to Babies-R-Us to give him a bit of an idea about all of the STUFF we'd need to start thinking about getting, and while we were there he set out on a mission to find Sophie. It was so cute how determined he was to find it and how proud of himself he was (and still is) that he picked her out all by himself! So Sophie is our baby's first toy.

Since we first started dating, JD has liked to say that I'm "cute like a monkey" or he'll call me his "little monkey" (he tells me I'm beautiful too, or I might start to wonder about my powers of attraction). Because of the monkey thing, he has half jokingly suggested having a monkey theme in the nursery (um, no). To throw him a bit of a bone, I decided to get an outfit for the baby that would hopefully help satisfy his monkey appetite a bit. So here's our baby's first outfit (I figure it can work for a boy or girl). The hat kills me! :-) (And the outfit is from Gymboree for anyone who's interested.)

{If anyone could tell me how to get the background of pictures to match the background of my page, that would be awesome!}

I've been dying to buy stuff for the bug but I'm really trying not to get too much until we know what we're having. Sometimes the urge is just too strong to resist, so I've decided that books are something that will work for a boy or girl and are therefore something I can justify buying now.

There's a book that I didn't have growing up and I can't remember where/when I first heard of it but every single time I read this book, I cry. Every time. It is so sweet. I figured a book that could make me cry tears of happiness about my children before I even got pregnant is a book that the baby has to have. And I got it in two versions. A larger hardback/paper version for when the kiddo gets a little older (and maybe for displaying on a shelf) and a smaller cardboard version to avoid rips in the early days when chubby little arms excitedly flail about. So, I introduce you to our baby's first book Guess How Much I Love You.

These few firsts make me so excited for the countless other firsts we're sure to experience with our little lovebug!

(Oh and for those who requested a heads up, I posted a new pregnancy update today!)

It's That Time Again

A few things have happened lately to let me know that Christmas is in the air (even though the air in my neck of the woods happens to feel more like Summer!). A Christmas CD by Dave Barnes -one of my favorite musicians- arrived in the mail, I had my first Peppermint Mocha (decaf... boo) in my first red 'bucks cup of the season, and holiday decorations are popping up left and right.

These things have served as a reminder that I need to start thinking about Christmas cards soon. An unwelcome reminder, I feel the need to confess. Most years I look forward to sending cards but this year, the thought of all that work and time makes me want to crawl into a fetal position and cry... although if I actually did lie down, I'd probably fall fast asleep before I could get the first tear out.

Thankfully, Shutterfly makes card sending a lot easier, even providing the option of stamping, addressing and mailing them all out so I don't have to!

Although I seriously toyed with the idea of scrapping the card-sending this year, they make it too easy for me not to. And really, I think I'd be a bit disappointed and feel like something was missing if I skipped it. So off I went to Shutterfly to scope out the possibilities!

I love the look of black and white with just a touch of color, so this one is a contender. Of course, we'd have to find six pictures for this one and I'm doubting our ability to produce one good image before it's time to send them out, so it might not work.

The soft icy blue of this one would stand out among all of the red and green that's sure to fill other cards that family and friends will have displayed but I prefer the flat option over folded, so this probably won't make the final cut.

This one, I like because it's simple and sweet and it would only require one picture. If it came in a glossy finish, it would be a definite winner.

The good thing is, with all of the options provided, we're sure to find one that's just perfect! Now if I can just muster up the energy to get myself and JD into some cute clothes and find someone to take a nice picture of us!

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Another good thing (and you probably already know this, because word seems to be spreading fast) is that bloggers can get 50 free (don't we just love that word?) holiday cards from Shutterfly! Go here if you're interested. And really, how could you not be??

A Few Details

Thank y'all so much for the sweet comments! I'm sure you've noticed but we are thrilled to be parents. I didn't (and don't) plan to go into it too much on the blog, but I was diagnosed with polycystic ovarian syndrome in June and with that condition, it can be harder (and for some women impossible) to get pregnant. For those who do, there's a higher risk of miscarriage. So needless to say, it's such a relief for things to be looking so well.

I'm 13 1/2 weeks along, due May 15th. I've been feeling fine, just really really tired. It's not easy work growing a baby!

The first time we heard the heartbeat it was 130 bpm, which caused the nurse to predict BOY but last week it was up to 160, which sounds like a GIRL, so it's really anyone's guess at this point! Of course we'll be happy with whatever we get. Kind of interesting: my mom and I have both had baby boy dreams, though I'm not sure how much stock I put in the whole dream thing.

I know a lot of readers couldn't care less -and some hate reading- about pregnancy details so I've decided to have a separate page you can read if you're interested in updates (see it up there at the top right?). I'll probably do them every other week instead of every week (with the most recent at the top). This way, if you don't give a fig about my cravings and symptoms, you'll never have to know!

Thanks again for all of the love yesterday, I'm looking forward to sharing our journey with you! Though I promise to do my best to not go completely overboard with the baby talk :-)

Beyond Measure

Soooo who's ready for the little announcement I teased a few days ago?? It's actually not little, it's basically the biggest, most exciting thing I'll ever be able to share here. It's so big, in fact, that I think it deserves some fireworks...

...or some flowers...

...or maybe a sweet fluffy puppy...

...all things that are sure to give you warm fuzzies inside. But none, I can assure you, that can compare to the feeling of having one of these inside.

Less than two weeks after this pensive post, God was answering the cry of my heart and creating a beautiful new life -a miracle, the answer to our prayers- for me and JD to nurture and protect and teach, and most of all to love. I hope we're worthy of the honor. We are blessed beyond measure.

P.S. Thanks to the few of you who knew the news and kept the secret :-)

{All images except the last via}